SPEAKER MOVES FOUR CHAIRMEN AND REORGANIZES HOUSE COMMITTEES

Babatunji Wusu –

Abbas Tajudeen, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, has moved the chairs of four House committees from one to the other.
The Speaker, who made the announcement on Tuesday, claims that the purpose of the reorganization is to guarantee the smooth and productive operation of the House.

Oluwole Oke went from the Judiciary to the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin (NNPP, Kano), the former chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, was transferred to the Committee on Housing and Habitat.

Hon. Aminu Balele, the former chairman of the Committee on Housing and Habitat, was transferred to the Committee on Army, and Hon. Abdullah Mamuda was transferred to the Committee on Judiciary.

In a related event, Idris Wase, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, has demanded that the National Assembly step in immediately to address the non-swearing-in of a few recently elected Plateau State House of Assembly members.

that in 2023, the Certificates of Return of sixteen sitting state House of Assembly members were declared void by the Court of Appeal during the hearing of challenges from Plateau State Election Tribunal rulings.

In addition, the appeal court instructed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide the newly elected members with Certificates of Return.

INEC duly issued the Certificates of Return to the new members in accordance with the Appeal Court’s ruling and in accordance with Section 72 (1) of the Electoral Act of 2022.

In a statement made public on Tuesday, the Deputy Speaker stressed that the state Assembly’s newly elected members had complied with all legal conditions as outlined in Sections 72 (1) of the Electoral Act of 2022 and 94 (1) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution.

Wase expressed alarm about the fact that the remaining state Assembly members-elect are being forced to submit resignation letters along with court affidavits in order to be sworn in, which he believes is a farce of democracy.

He claimed that this is especially depressing because Nigeria is now commemorating 25 years of continuous democracy.